LatinNews Daily - 14 February 2024

*Peru’s President Dina Boluarte has carried out a cabinet reshuffle, replacing four ministers including economy & finance minister Álex Contreras. Also leaving the government are defence minister Jorge Chávez, energy & mining minister Óscar Vera, and environment minister Albina Ruiz. Contreras, who had faced mounting criticism over Peru’s poor economic performance, was replaced at the economy & finance ministry by José Arista Arbildo. Arista returns to a position he previously held for just five days in 2020; he also previously served as agriculture minister for several months in 2018. Chávez has been replaced as defence minister by retired general Walter Astudillo Chávez. The energy & mining brief has been taken over by Rómulo Mucho Mamani, an engineer who previously served as deputy energy & mining minister from 2005-2006. The new environment minister, Juan Carlos Castro Vargas, was previously the head of Peru’s national water authority (ANA).